Romano Romanelli 14 May β 25 September [ 1 ] was an Italian artist, writer, and naval officer, known for his sculptures and his medals. Romanelli was born in Florence , the son of sculptor Raffaello Romanelli. Romano's works occupy an important place in the Avant-Garde movement and form part of the ongoing artistic legacy of the Romanelli dynasty.
He is buried in the Soffiano cemetery in Florence. Florentine by descendant, on his mother's side of Francesco Ferrucci , the famous Florentine Military Commissioner of the Medici family and a ship-owner, and on his father's side the son and grandson of renowned sculptors. His grandfather Pasquale Romanelli had been a collaborator of Lorenzo Bartolini , his father was the acclaimed and talented Raffaello Romanelli.
He was a decorated Naval officer in the Italian Navy. As a commanding officer in Gibraltar, Romano was to meet Dorothea Hayter, and she would become his wife in She was the daughter of Rev. William Thomas Baring Hayter. He was also a wine producer creating at the turn of the 20th century the Tenuta di Riseccoli winery in Greve in Chianti. He also held farms in Somalia, on the Jubba River , where he had plantations of banana trees and grapefruits.
In his wife, whilst driving to the local hospital she had created, was sadly murdered by natives. As a boy under the guidance of his father, Romano showed an aptitude for sculpting, and it seemed that he would follow the family tradition of sculpture. But Romano first found a career in the Italian Navy.
As a cadet and junior officer in the Italian Navy , he made five voyages, visiting the Mediterranean, North America, and Europe including the Azores and Madeira. He left service in for medical reasons and began to work as a sculptor. Recalled into the Navy for the Italo-Turkish War in β12, he served as a navigator in an armed cruiser patrolling in the area between Corsica and Palermo , Sicily.
